Power with Less

Harry Potter stepped into the dusty shop and took in the lines and lines of boxes stacked high on the shelves behind counter in front him, the ring of a bell above the door alerting whoever was meant to be serving that they had a new customer.

'I wonder if they have cleaned this shop since 382 BC, this place is filthy.' Harry thought as he glanced around the seemingly abandoned store.

"Erm, Hagrid, I don't..." Harry began before being interrupted by a voice to his right.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter."

Harry jumped back and bumped into Hagrid's tree-trunk legs with a soft, "Oofh!" Of surprise.

Harry turned to look at the man again as he continued to speak, "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work...' Mr Ollivander trailed off as he began moving closer to the duo.

Mr Ollivander seemed to squint at Harry for a time, as if he wasn't so much looking at him, but perhaps through him, inside him.

Hagrid perhaps feeling the slight shake of Harry's body against his gigantic legs, coughed somewhat awkwardly in hopes of drawing the attention of the aging wand crafter from the utterly perplexed and slightly petrified child in front of him.

"Aha, Mr Ollivander sir, young 'arry's 'ere for 'is first wand." Hagrid announced.

Mr Ollivander's eyes snapped up to meet Hagrid's worried look with a short, "Hm."

He straighten up his gaze flicking back to Harry momentarily, "Rubeus Hagrid. How nice to see you again … Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy wasn't it?"

"It was, ye…"

"Yes, yes, fantastic, let's find Mr Potter his wand shell we?" Mr Ollivander interrupted imperviously, spinning on the spot before taking off towards the counter at the back of the shop. He lifted the latch before disappearing into depths of the ceiling high shelves.

Harry turned back towards Hagrid with a question on his lips.

"I du'nt know what 'appened 'arry. Mr Ollivander is as old as they come, strange fellow 'e is." Hagrid shrugged and took one of the empty seats positioned around the room. "You wait at that counter there 'arry, 'e'll be right back I suppose."

Harry walked nervously towards the counter catching snippets of mumbles from deep within stacks.

"Hmm…"

"A ha!"

"I wonder…"

It had been well over ten minutes before Mr Ollivander returned, his arms with laden with 4 or 5 long thin boxes of various colours. They were all covered with dust and as Mr Ollivander delicately placed each box on the counter he gave an almighty blow causing Harry to cough viciously as the ancient dust assaulted his lungs.

Thoroughly dazed from his coughing fit Harry wiped his watering eyes on his sleeve before looking over the counter at Mr Ollivander who was looking at Harry with a face of upmost confusion as if he could not understand what has just caused Harry's brief explosion.

Mr Ollivander shook his head before opening the first box and handing Harry the most intricately designed stick of wood he had ever seen.

"Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on. Go on, give it a try."

'So this is a wand, what does he want me to do?'

"Well, don't just stand there staring at it, give it wave silly!" Mr Ollivander shouted as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Harry took a deep breath and pushed away the fear that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't magical. That it had all been a mistake. Regardless of how ridiculous he felt he waved the wand round in a circle before ending the movement with a sharp jab downwards.

Multiple things happened at once, the wand was snapped from his grasp a moment before several boxes were pulled from the selves causing the wands to fall out onto the floor.

Not even seconds after the wand was removed from his grasp Harry felt a deep echoing pain shoot through his chest, he grunted as he had long learnt not to show pain. Once again Ollivander was looking at him strangely.

Upon asking if he was okay, Mr Ollivander handed him the next wand, and the next, and the next. The pain in his chest growing more and more unbearable with every failed wand before he was handed the last wand Mr Ollivander had brought to the counter.

"Yes, just maybe. Try this one, Mr. Potter. Holly and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry's hand wrapped around the wand, pushing through the pain wanting to find a wand so that he could sit down, he waved the wand round like every other.

Red and gold sparks shot from the end, streaming like a firework.

"Oh Bravo!" Shouted Mr Ollivander, clapping his hands together.

Harry watched the sparks shoot out and elation ran through his body, pushing aside the pain momentarily as Harry revelled in his victory.

'I'm magical! I have a wand!' Harry's mental celebration came to an abrupt end when the stream of sparks was starting to slow and the pain in his chest returned tenfold and his vision was beginning to blur. Harry knew he was blacking out, the last thing he remembered before he hit the floor was the furrowed brow of Mr Ollivander leaning over the counter as he fell.